Kiir issues Presidential Order granting leave for staff to register referendum

November 25, 2010 (JUBA) – The President of the semi-autonomous Government of Southern Sudan (GoSS), Salva Kiir Mayardit, has issued a Presidential Order granting five-day leave to government staff who wish to travel to their localities to register for the south’s self determination referendum in January.

Kiir issued the order on Thursday and directed the Minister of Labour and Public Service to implement the order accordingly. He also directed all the government institutions to abide by the Order.

Voter registration kicked off on November 15 and expected to end on December 1. Over one million southerners are reported to have registered in the first week.

There is particular concern that women in the region who are believed to constitute more than 60% of the adult population in Southern Sudan have not turned out and registered as expected.

The order by the southern President giving five days leave to government employees is seen as an attempt to increase the number of registered people in the region. The people of Southern Sudan are scheduled to conduct a referendum on self-determination by January 9, 2011 as part of a 2005 peace.

From 1983 southern rebels, who now govern the region, fought successive Khartoum governments over oil, identity, religion and political and economic marginalization. It is widely expected that the south will vote to secede.

(ST)